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Upcoming Trump attack on Iran likely to kill thousands of Americans and Israelis.

Walt Zlotow  West Suburban Peace Coalition  Glen Ellyn IL 30 Jan 26

In word and deed President Trump appears on the cusp of attacking Iran to decapitate its regime and destabilize the entire country of 93 million.

Trump threatens war and moves massive military might into the region near Iran. Trump did the same thing to Venezuela last September. On January 3, he pulled the trigger, attacking Venezuela, killing a hundred Venezuelans and kidnapping its president to stand trial in the US.  

The criminal Venezuelan campaign would be small potatoes should Trump pull the trigger to utterly destroy the Iranian regime, consigning Iran to failed state status.

The US and Israel tried and failed to do that during the June Twelve Day War. Trump suckered Iran into complacency by scheduling negotiations, allowing Israel to launch a sneak attack June 13. Tho suffering massive destruction, Iran struck back, firing over 1,500 missiles and drones into Israel. It caused enough damage and chaos that Israel begged Trump to negotiate a ceasefire.

Israel and the US tried again last December by using provocateurs to support domestic Iranian government protests. Trump threatened military intervention based on protecting the protesters from death. But when Iran crushed the protests Trump backed down once again.

This time it appears Trump may go for broke with all out war. Big mistake. Iran understands, ‘Fool me once shame on Iran.’ This time they’re ready with tens of thousands of missiles and drones widely dispersed and impossible to neutralize.

Iran realizes America and Israel’s existential threat to Iran cannot be negotiated away. Any attack will likely inflict thousands of casualties in Israel and to US forces in the region. The US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln may end up in Davy Jones Locker. Iran could shut down the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices into the stratosphere and US economy into the dumpster.

War with Iran has nothing to do with America’s national security interests. It has to do with Israel’s determination to destroy its last hegemonic rival in the Middle East. For America, it has to do with acquiescing in whatever madness Israel demands of both parties under near total control by the Israeli government and its American lobby.

February 2, 2026 Posted by | Iran, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

UN watchdog warns Ukraine war remains world’s biggest threat to nuclear safety.

30 January 2026, https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/01/1166863

The war in Ukraine remains the world’s biggest threat to nuclear safety as a fifth year of combat looms, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog warned on Friday, citing continued risks to power supplies at nuclear sites vulnerable to fighting nearby.

Addressing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors, Director General Rafael Grossi said the agency remains focused on preventing a nuclear accident as fighting continues to endanger critical infrastructure.

“The conflict in Ukraine is about to enter its fifth year,” Mr. Grossi said. “It continues to pose the world’s biggest threat to nuclear safety.”

IAEA teams remain deployed at all nuclear power plants affected by the conflict and publish regular updates on nuclear safety and security conditions.

The Board of Governors is the IAEA’s main decision-making body, bringing together representatives of 35 countries to oversee nuclear safety, security and safeguards, and to guide the work of the UN nuclear watchdog. Its current membership includes, among others Russia, the United States, United Kingdom, and France.

Off-site power a critical safety lifeline

Mr. Grossi stressed that a central safety requirement is reliable off-site power – the electricity a plant receives from the national grid. Without it, nuclear sites must rely on backup systems to run cooling and other essential safety functions.

“There must be secure off-site power supply from the grid for all nuclear sites,” he said, pointing to the IAEA’s “Seven Pillars” guidance for nuclear safety during armed conflict, where off-site power is pillar number four.

He also cited Principle 3 of the IAEA’s Five Principles for protecting the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) that “all efforts should be made to ensure off-site power remains available and secure at all times.”

Mr. Grossi said both sets of guidance have broad international support, including from the parties directly involved, and that he has repeatedly called for adherence to them, including at the UN Security Council.

Progress at Zaporizhzhya amid ongoing risks

He reported recent progress at ZNPP, where Europe’s biggest plant was reconnected on 19 January to its last remaining 330-kilovolt backup power line after repairs were carried out under a temporary ceasefire negotiated with Ukrainian and Russian counterparts.  

The line had been damaged and disconnected since 2 January, reportedly due to military activity.

Until the reconnection, ZNPP relied on its last remaining 750-kilovolt main line to provide off-site power for safety systems needed to cool its six shutdown reactors and spent fuel pools. IAEA teams are also monitoring the plant’s ability to manage winter conditions, including keeping water in cooling and sprinkler ponds from freezing.

Beyond the plants themselves, Mr. Grossi warned that Ukraine’s electrical substations are also crucial to nuclear safety. “Damage to them undermines nuclear safety and must be avoided,” he said. An IAEA expert mission is now assessing 10 substations vital to nuclear safety amid ongoing strikes on the country’s power infrastructure.

Other nuclear sites also affected

IAEA teams have also reported military activity near other nuclear facilities, including the Chornobyl site, where damage to a critical substation disrupted multiple power lines and forced temporary reliance on emergency diesel generators. The affected lines have since been reconnected.

Mr. Grossi said the IAEA has shown how international institutions can help reduce risks and provide predictability in a volatile war. But, he added, technical measures have limits.

“The best way to ensure nuclear safety and security,” he said, “is to bring this conflict to an end.”

February 1, 2026 Posted by | safety, Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Aldermaston named on Russia nuclear war UK ‘strike list’

30th January, By Suzanne Antelme, https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/25809589.aldermaston-named-russia-nuclear-war-uk-strike-list/

A small Berkshire village has been named on an alleged list of UK targets that Russia might strike with missiles or nukes if war between the two countries ever breaks out.

The alleged strike list of 23 sites was revealed by a Russian politician, according to LADbible.

The outlet reported that Dmitry Rogozin, a Russian senator and the country’s former deputy prime minister, shared a map of the potential targets as tensions rose between NATO and Russia last year.

The list of 23 targets includes Aldermaston, a village in Berkshire that happens to be the main site for the UK’s atomic weapons programme.

Aldermaston has hosted the programme since 1950, and it was in this humble village that the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE) designed the UK’s first hydrogen bomb in 1957.

The AWRE has since become the AWE Nuclear Security Technologies, and Aldermaston remains at the centre of the government’s nuclear capabilities, responsible for designing and manufacturing the UK’s nuclear warheads.

February 1, 2026 Posted by | UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Trump May Launch Strikes on Iran — Regime Change, Not Nukes, Is the Goal.

 January 30, 2026, By Joshua Scheer, https://scheerpost.com/2026/01/30/exclusive-trump-may-launch-strikes-on-iran-regime-change-not-nukes-is-the-goal/

A Drop Site News exclusive reports that senior U.S. military officials have informed the leadership of a key Middle Eastern ally that President Donald Trump could authorize direct military strikes on Iran as early as this weekend, with targets potentially extending beyond nuclear and missile facilities to include senior Iranian leadership — a push some strategists say aims at precipitating regime change rather than merely halting Tehran’s military programs. This after new sanctions were placed on Iran by the US treasury department.

With Drop Site reporting “This isn’t about the nukes or the missile program. This is about regime change,” said a former senior U.S. intelligence official who consults for Arab governments and is an informal advisor to the Trump administration on Middle East policy. He told Drop Site that U.S. war planners envision attacks that target nuclear, ballistic, and other military sites around Iran, but will also aim to decapitate the Iranian government, and in particular the leadership and capabilities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC is a branch of the Iranian armed forces created after the country’s 1979 revolution whose leadership now plays a major role in the country’s politics and economy.

Trump not sharing that regime change is part of the plan posted “Hopefully Iran will quickly ‘Come to the Table’ and negotiate a fair and equitable deal – NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS – one that is good for all parties,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!”

From Senator John Cornyn: in a foregin realtions meeting with Rubio: Cornyn stating: “I know the President is being presented with a range of options. We’ve noticed a lot of movement into the region by our Navy… but what happens if the Supreme Leader is removed in Iran?”

From Marco Rubio: “We have to have enough force and power in the region to defend against the possibility that, at some point, as a result of something, the Iranian regime decides to strike at our troop presence in the region.”

“I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I think what you’re seeing now is the effort to posture assets in the region to defend against what could be an Iranian threat against our personnel.”

This came from Department of War head Pete Hegseth during a recent Cabinet meeting: the Iranians “have all the options to make a deal,” he said. But if the goal is purely regime change, what deal is even possible? Hegseth also claimed that the war in Ukraine and the October 7 massacre “would not have happened” if Trump had been in power.

Iranian officials have made clear that they would respond with a major counterstrike using all means necessary if the U.S. attempts a Venezuela‑style operation or, worse, targets Iranian leadership — a scenario that has regional allies deeply concerned about the risk of a wider war. With Iran’s misison to the UN tweeting…..

While the region waits Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated in Istanbul saying about the above issue “The Islamic Republic of Iran, just as it is ready for negotiations, it is also ready for war,”

adding:

“Our position is exactly this: Applying diplomacy through military threats cannot be effective or constructive,” Araghchi told journalists Wednesday outside of a Cabinet meeting. “If they want negotiations to take shape, they must abandon threats, excessive demands and the raising of illogical issues.”

Looking at Iran’s past stance versus what could be coming, a recent interview sheds some light with Dr. Foad Izadi, a professor at the University of Tehran, telling Drop Site that in the past:

“a number of high-ranking military officials … made the decision to inform the United States when they were attacking the U.S. bases.”
“The idea was basically trying to ride out the Trump administration, not to confront him in a serious manner, respond to him, but respond in a very limited style so they don’t start a huge war with the United States,” he said. “This was their decision. And they were killed in June,” during the 12-day bombing campaign unleashed against Iran by the U.S. and Israel.”

The report comes amid escalating U.S.–Iran tensions that have woven together diplomatic brinkmanship, regional alliances, and conflicting strategic priorities. While U.S. and Israeli forces previously carried out coordinated strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in 2025 — prompting retaliatory missile barrages and suspending negotiations — the Trump administration has continued to oscillate between threats of further military action and claims it prefers a negotiated settlement over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

International concern is growing, with Arab states urging restraint to prevent a wider regional conflagration, even as Tehran signals readiness for both talks and defense in the face of mounting pressure.

With at least two nations, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, have made it clear they will not allow their airspace to be used for any potential U.S. strike on Iran. Yet the United States has moved the USS Abraham Lincoln and several guided-missile destroyers into the region, assets capable of launching attacks from the sea. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry emphasized diplomacy, with top diplomat Badr Abdelatty engaging both Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff to “work toward achieving calm, in order to avoid the region slipping into new cycles of instability.”

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Oman, and Qatar have all been in contact with Washington and Tehran, warning that any escalation could destabilize the region and disrupt energy markets. Arab and Muslim states fear that even a limited U.S. strike could provoke immediate retaliation from Tehran, potentially targeting regional or American interests and causing collateral damage. Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, currently in Washington for high-level talks, reinforced this message, noting on social media that he discussed “efforts to advance regional and global peace and stability” with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other top U.S. officials. With Saudi prince Khalid bin Salman tweeting from the west wing:

This is a developing story, but in Washington, it feels like the only ones pushing it are Trump and his allies. The Saudis are calling for calm, Israel is en route to the capital, and the only thing anyone can predict is that more fuel might soon be thrown on an already blazing fire. Tensions are high: Iran warns it will strike at the heart of Tel Aviv, and whispers of war are spreading across Israel.

The memories of past conflicts remain sharp for Israelis. The latest round of threats between Tehran and Washington has stirred anxiety and put the country on edge. During previous wars, Israel’s air defenses were remarkably effective—but citizens still ran for shelter at the sound of sirens, and the fear of another confrontation has only intensified in recent weeks.

As U.S. warships draw closer, Israeli headlines have been dominated by speculation over a potential American strike on Iran—and the grim expectation that Israel, as the closest U.S. ally in the region, would bear the first wave of retaliation.

Some towns are reopening public bomb shelters. Airlines are canceling flights, hotels are seeing reservations vanish, and citizens are stockpiling food and water. Yet the government and the Home Front Command—Israel’s alert system based on real-time security intelligence—have issued no special guidance.

Without official word, rumors flourish. Both Trump’s and Iran’s statements are heavy on drama, light on specifics, and in Israel, everyone knows “someone who knows something.” Daily chatter revolves around alleged knowledge of a U.S. strike—hours or days away—and debates over whether to cancel travel or postpone events.

In the end, nobody—neither in Tehran nor Tel Aviv—can say for sure what’s coming next.

What we all know is this: war is bad for humans, and our leaders don’t care.

January 31, 2026 Posted by | Iran, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Doomsday Clock setting feels more like 8 or 7 seconds to midnight than 87 seconds.


Walt Zlotow, West Suburban Peace Coalition, Glen Ellyn IL, 28 Jan 26

Lived all but the first 4 months of my 81 years under the threat of nuclear annihilation. So every January, I take seriously the annual Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Doomsday Clock announcement of our countdown to global catastrophe.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists wasfounded in 1945 by Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and University of Chicago atomic bomb scientists. They created the Doomsday Clock in 1947 to dramatize peoplekind’s threats to existence. Originally focused on nuclear annihilation, the Clock’s setting now includes climate crisis, biological threats, and disruptive AI technologies.

Tuesday’s announcement was disturbing. The Bulletin moved the Clock at 87 seconds to midnight, the closest it’s been in its 79 year countdown. Tho just two seconds closer than its previous worst of 89 seconds last year, the Bulletin sees nary of sign of progress in halting the proliferation of nuclear weapons, unstoppable wars, hostel military entanglements and refusal to address the escalating climate crisis.

The return of President Trump casts gloom over reducing nuclear tensions. In his first term he exited both the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) and the Open Skies Treaty with Russia. He also failed to renew the New Start Treaty which thankfully was extended for 5 years by successor Biden within 2 weeks of taking office. Set to expire again in 7 days, Trump’s refusal to renew it marks the end of all US Russian nuclear agreements. It will quickly accelerate US and Russian development of their nuclear arsenals limited under New Start.

Trump has bombed 7 countries this past year, Iraq, Syria, Iran, Venezuela, Somalia, Nigeria and Yemen. His bombing of Iran’s imagined nuclear program could have triggered a massive Middle East war with the potential of going nuclear. It also likely increases Iran’s perceived need to go nuclear. 

 Daniel Holz, chair of the group’s science and security board give this stark assessment. “Hard-won global understandings are collapsing, accelerating a winner take all great power competition undermining international cooperation needed to reduce existential risks. If the world splinters into an us v. them, zero-sum approach, it increases the likelihood we all lose,”

The furthest from midnight the Doomsday Clock ticked was 17 minutes (1,020 seconds) in 1991 when the US and Soviet Union signed the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). Followed by the demise of the Soviet Union, further progress on nuclear disarmament should have a snap. Instead, the US foreign policy elite snapped, ramping up a new Cold War against a weakened Russia. This culminated in the 2022 US proxy war on Russia destroying Ukraine, putting the world at risk of it going nuclear every day it continues.

No wonder the current 87 seconds, for those of us seeking an end to the specter of nuclear annihilation, feels more like 8 or 7 seconds

January 31, 2026 Posted by | weapons and war | Leave a comment

It is now 85 seconds to midnight

2026 Doomsday Clock Statement

Science and Security Board
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,Editor, John Mecklin, January 27, 2026

A year ago, we warned that the world was perilously close to global disaster and that any delay in reversing course increased the probability of catastrophe. Rather than heed this warning, Russia, China, the United States, and other major countries have instead become increasingly aggressive, adversarial, and nationalistic. Hard-won global understandings are collapsing, accelerating a winner-takes-all great power competition and undermining the international cooperation critical to reducing the risks of nuclear war, climate change, the misuse of biotechnology, the potential threat of artificial intelligence, and other apocalyptic dangers. Far too many leaders have grown complacent and indifferent, in many cases adopting rhetoric and policies that accelerate rather than mitigate these existential risks. Because of this failure of leadership, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Science and Security Board today sets the Doomsday Clock at 85 seconds to midnight, the closest it has ever been to catastrophe.

Last year started with a glimmer of hope in regard to nuclear risks, as incoming US President Donald Trump made efforts to halt the Russia-Ukraine war and even suggested that major powers pursue “denuclearization.” Over the course of 2025, however, negative trends—old and new—intensified, with three regional conflicts involving nuclear powers all threatening to escalate. The Russia–Ukraine war has featured novel and potentially destabilizing military tactics and Russian allusions to nuclear weapons use. Conflict between India and Pakistan erupted in May, leading to cross-border drone and missile attacks amid nuclear brinkmanship. In June, Israel and the United States launched aerial attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities suspected of supporting the country’s nuclear weapons ambitions. It remains unclear whether the attacks constrained those efforts—or if they instead persuaded the country to pursue nuclear weapons covertly.

Meanwhile, competition among major powers has become a full-blown arms race, as evidenced by increasing numbers of nuclear warheads and platforms in China, and the modernization of nuclear delivery systems in the United States, Russia, and China. The United States plans to deploy a new, multilayered missile defense system, Golden Dome, that will include space-based interceptors, increasing the probability of conflict in space and likely fueling a new space-based arms race. As these worrying trends continued, countries with nuclear weapons failed to talk about strategic stability or arms control, much less nuclear disarmament, and questions about US extended deterrence commitments to traditional allies in Europe and Asia led some countries without nuclear weapons to consider acquiring them. As we publish this statement, the last major agreement limiting the numbers of strategic nuclear weapons deployed by the United States and Russia, New START, is set to expire, ending nearly 60 years of efforts to constrain nuclear competition between the world’s two largest nuclear countries. In addition, the US administration may be considering the resumption of explosive nuclear testing, further accelerating a renewed nuclear arms race……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Even as the hands of the Doomsday Clock move closer to midnight, there are many actions that could pull humanity back from the brink:

  • The United States and Russia can resume dialogue about limiting their nuclear arsenals. All nuclear-armed states can avoid destabilizing investments in missile defense and observe the existing moratorium on explosive nuclear testing.
  • Through both multilateral agreements and national regulations, the international community can take all feasible steps to prevent the creation of mirror life and cooperate on meaningful measures to reduce the prospect that AI be used to create biological threats.
  • The United States Congress can repudiate President Trump’s war on renewable energy, instead providing incentives and investments that will enable rapid reduction in fossil fuel use.
  • The United States, Russia, and China can engage in bilateral and multilateral dialogue on meaningful guidelines regarding the incorporation of artificial intelligence in their militaries, particularly in nuclear command and control systems.

Our current trajectory is unsustainable. National leaders—particularly those in the United States, Russia, and China—must take the lead in finding a path away from the brink. Citizens must insist they do so.

It is 85 seconds to midnight.


Editor’s note: Additional information on the threats posed by nuclear weapons, climate change, biological events, and the misuse of other disruptive technologies can be found elsewhere on this page and in the full PDF / print version of the Doomsday Clock statement.

Learn more about how each of the Bulletin‘s areas of concern contributed to the setting of the Doomsday Clock this year:

Nuclear Risk

The lack of arms control talks and a general dearth of leadership on nuclear issues has worsened the nuclear outlook. Read more…

Climate Change

Reducing the threat of climate catastrophe requires actions both to reduce the primary cause—the burning of fossil fuels—and to deal with the damage climate change is already causing. Read more…

Biological Threats

Four developments—research into self-replicating “mirror life”; AI tools that can design biological threats; state-sponsored biological weapons programs; and the dismantling of US public health efforts—have increased the possibility of bio-catastrophe. Read more…

Disruptive Technologies

The increasing sophistication and uncertain accuracy of AI models have generated significant concern about their application in critical processes, particularly in military programs. Read more… https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/2026-statement/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=The%202026%20Doomsday%20Clock%20statement&utm_campaign=20260129%20Thursday%20Newsletter%20copy1%20%20%28Copy%29

January 30, 2026 Posted by | weapons and war | Leave a comment

Brian Goodall concerned about nuclear subs at Rosyth

Last month the MoD told the committee that they will not reveal if nuclear weapons will be aboard submarines being repaired at Rosyth.

28th January

A ROSYTH councillor is calling for a public consultation on plans to temporarily base the UK’s new nuclear submarine fleet at the dockyard.

Brian Goodall highlighted the “seriousness of the implications” of providing a contingency dock for the Dreadnought class of vessels that will carry Trident missiles.

He said emergency plans to be put in place in the event of a radiological accident “could require urgent protective actions, like arrangements for sheltering local people and the distribution of potassium iodide tablets to the local community”.

He has submitted a motion to next week’s South and West Fife area committee, calling on the convener to write to the “Secretary of State for Defence requesting that a public consultation be held on the proposals”.

Cllr Goodall also wants the committee to acknowledge the “seriousness of the implications of these plans and the impact any radiological accident or event would have on the local population”.

Rosyth will “bridge a gap” by offering a temporary home for the new subs and Babcock said the dock needs to be ready by 2029.

Long term the vessels will be maintained at Faslane, however the site on the Clyde won’t be ready until the mid 2030s.

The UK Government are investing £340 million in the dockyard which includes funding for the contingency dock.

Cllr Goodall’s motion explains the dock will be used for the “Dreadnought-class nuclear submarines from the UK’s continuous at-sea nuclear Trident missile programme”.

He said the UK Government plans included information on the need for a “Detailed Emergency Planning Zone” which was still being calculated but was likely to include parts of the town within 1.5km.

The SNP councillor added that “emergency plans both on and off site will also be needed to reduce and/or prevent the escalation of the impact of any radiological accident or event”.

Last month the MoD told the committee that they will not reveal if nuclear weapons will be aboard submarines being repaired at Rosyth.

They also confirmed residents would be given potassium iodate tablets to block radiation in the event of an emergency.

The MoD was giving an update on the plans for Rosyth to be the temporary repair base for the UK’s new fleet of nuclear deterrent submarines.

This work would be alongside the submarine dismantling project, which is cutting up an old nuclear sub, Swiftsure, at the dockyard and removing the radioactive waste left within it.

There are another six decommissioned subs laid up at Rosyth – and 15 at Devonport – still to be dismantled and although no decision has been made, local Labour MP Graeme Downie has called for that work to be done here.

He said the yard could become a “centre of excellence” for submarine dismantling which would secure highly paid skilled jobs for decades to come.

This week Cllr Goodall posted: “I’ve said that this (motion) should include an update from Babcock and the Ministry of Defence, following the local Labour MP’s really concerning call for all of the UK’s decommissioned nuclear submarines to be brought to Rosyth for the dismantling, and so, the storage of radioactive materials that goes with it, to go on in Rosyth indefinitely.”

January 30, 2026 Posted by | UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Ukraine KILLED 5520 CIVILIANS in the Donetsk Peoples Republic alone since February 17, 2022, and KILLED 9894 DPR CIVILIANS since 2014 (not including Lugansk or elsewhere in Russia)

Statistics from the formerly known JCCC, now called “The Department for Documentation of War Crimes of Ukraine of the Administration of the DPR Head and Governme

Eva Karene Bartlett, Jan 28, 2026

Via Donbass News

NOTE: From February 17, 2022-January 26, 2026, in the DPR (so not including Lugansk or elsewhere in Russia):

–5520 CIVILIANS KILLED by Ukrainian attacks, including 159 CHILDREN

–8630 CIVILIANS INJURED, including 574 CHILDREN

–192 CIVILIANS MAIMED, including 11 CHILDREN, by Ukrainian-fired PFM-1 “Petal” mines (warning, graphic: look at this photo to see what a maimed foot looks like)—THREE of whom DIED as a result of their injuries.

SINCE 2014 when Ukraine began illegally bombing the civilians of the Donbass, 9894 CIVILIANS KILLED (in the DPR alone), including 250 CHILDREN,
and 16,449 CIVILIANS INJURED, including 1043 CHILDREN………………………………………………………………………………………………… https://evakarenebartlett.substack.com/p/ukraine-killed-5520-civilians-in?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=3046064&post_id=186053822&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1ise1&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

January 30, 2026 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Trump’s October 10 ceasefire, Board of Peace, simply continues Israeli Palestinian genocide in slow motion.


Walt Zlotow  West Suburban Peace Coalition  Glen Ellyn IL , 26 Jan 26

That was some ceasefire Trump negotiated with Israel October 10. Since then Israel has killed nearly 500 Palestinians with bullets and bombs. Many more are likely dead from starvation and disease as Israel lets in less than 170 trucks of food daily instead of the required and promised 600. ‘Ha ha…little nourishment for you starving Palestinians.’

Water, medicine, everything needed to sustain life is restricted to drive out the beleaguered living in makeshift tents. Why tents? Israel, with over 50,000 tons of Biden, Trump bombs, pulverized over 80% of all Gaza buildings, including over 90 % of all housing. Likely over 10,000 Gaza corpses are rotting under the 60 million tons of rubble including over 9 million tons of hazardous material. Ceasefire notwithstanding, Israel has knocked down or damaged over 2,500 post ceasefire buildings.

In order to force Palestinians from Gaza, Israel has reopened the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt. But it’s Israel’s version of a reverse Roach Motel. Palestinians can check out…but they can never check back into their rightful homeland. Every Palestinian that leaves, along with every Palestinian shot, bombed or starved to death, is one less pesky Palestinian to get rid of in absorbing Gaza into Greater Israel.

Israel has exploited the ceasefire to occupy over 50% of Gaza territory, shooting any Palestinian who strays over or close to Israel’s yellow boundary lines.

Astonishingly, the UN Security Council’s November 17 Resolution 2803 (2025) certified Trump’s Board of Peace which effectively makes Trump Gaza’s ruler, totally excluding Palestinian involvement. In doing so it upends over 70 years of UN resolutions and requirements that Palestinians in Gaza have the right to live and govern their homeland free from subjugation; indeed annihilation.

Why did this Security Council resolution pass? Simple, Trump essentially blackmailed Council members that it was either Trump’s ceasefire and Board of Peace, excluding Palestinians, or he would greenlight continuing the horrific 2 year bombing obliteration of Gaza and its citizens till they were all dead and gone. .

Israel, with US support, will never allow a Palestinian state in Gaza the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The horrific daily slaughter may be reduced to a trickle, but it will continue indefinitely till every Palestinian in Gaza is gone.

Trump’s ceasefire and Board of peace have the additional benefit to both Israel and Trump administration of removing the daily ethnic cleansing of Gaza from mainstream media coverage. They have moved on to more dramatic foreign hotspots in Venezuela, Iran and Greenland as well as Trump’s ICE thugs murdering fellow citizens in Minneapolis

Israel and the Trump administration’s slow motion genocide of Palestinians in Gaza should be opposed by all decent, moral nations and persons as fervently as their opposition to the preceding two yearlong all out genocide. Trump’s ceasefire and Board of Peace has put lipstick on the pig of Israeli genocide destroying Palestinians in Gaza.

January 29, 2026 Posted by | Atrocities, Gaza, Israel, USA | Leave a comment

Michael Parenti (1933-2026): 1918

January 25, 2026, https://consortiumnews.com/2026/01/25/michael-parenti-1933-2026-1918/

Michael Parenti, who died on Saturday at 92, wrote for Consortium News what appears to be his last article on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI. 

Michael Parenti, a giant on the American left, who influenced generations of activists, scholars and ordinary Americans, died on Saturday in Berkeley, California. He was 92. Parenti wrote for Consortium News what is believed to be his last article, about the horrors of World War I. It appeared on U.S. Memorial Day, May 28, 2018, and we republish it here ahead of a tribute Consortium News is preparing.  

On Memorial Day 2018, in the year marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, Michael Parenti contemplates the trenches and the oligarchs who caused so much unnecessary misery.

Looking back at the years of fury and carnage, Colonel Angelo Gatti, staff officer of the Italian Army (Austrian front), wrote in his diary:

“This whole war has been a pile of lies. We came into war because a few men in authority, the dreamers, flung us into it.”

No, Gatti, caro mio, those few men are not dreamers; they are schemers. They perch above us. See how their armament contracts are turned into private fortunes — while the young men are turned into dust: more blood, more money; good for business this war.

It is the rich old men, i pauci, “the few,” as Cicero called the Senate oligarchs whom he faithfully served in ancient Rome. It is the few, who together constitute a bloc of industrialists and landlords, who think war will bring bigger markets abroad and civic discipline at home.

One of i pauci in 1914 saw war as a way of promoting compliance and obedience on the labor front and—as he himself said—war, “would permit the hierarchal reorganization of class relations.”

Just awhile before the heresies of Karl Marx were spreading among Europe’s lower ranks. The proletariats of each country, growing in numbers and strength, were made to wage war against each other.

What better way to confine and misdirect them than with the swirl of mutual destruction.

Then there were the generals and other militarists who started plotting this war as early as 1906, eight years before the first shots were fired.

War for them means glory, medals, promotions, financial rewards, inside favors, and dining with ministers, bankers, and diplomats: the whole prosperity of death.

When the war finally comes, it is greeted with quiet satisfaction by the generals.

Moguls and Monarchs Prevail

But the young men are ripped by waves of machine-gun fire or blown apart by exploding shells. War comes with gas attacks and sniper shots: grenades, mortars, and artillery barrages; the roar of a great inferno and the sickening smell of rotting corpses.

Torn bodies hang sadly on the barbed wire, and trench rats try to eat away at us, even while we are still alive.

Farewell, my loving hearts at home, those who send us their precious tears wrapped in crumpled letters. And farewell my comrades. When the people’s wisdom fails, moguls and monarchs prevail and there seems to be no way out.

Fools dance and the pit sinks deeper as if bottomless. No one can see the sky, or hear the music, or deflect the swarms of lies that cloud our minds like the countless lice that torture our flesh.

Crusted with blood and filth, regiments of lost souls drag themselves to the devil’s pit. “Lasciate ogni speranza, voi ch’entrate.” (“Abandon all hope, ye who enter” as our Dante delivered his painful message).

Meanwhile from above the Vatican wall, the pope himself begs the world leaders to put an end to hostilities, “lest there be no young men left alive in Europe.” But the war industry pays him no heed.

Finally the casualties are more than we can bear. There are mutinies in the French trenches! Agitators in the Czar’s army cry out for “Peace, Land, and Bread!” At home, our families grow bitter. There comes a breaking point as the oligarchs seem to be losing their grip.

At last the guns are mute in the morning air. A strange almost pious silence takes over. The fog and rain seem to wash our wounds and cool our fever. “Still alive,” the sergeant grins, “still alive.” He cups a cigarette in his hand. “Stack those rifles, you lazy bastards.”

He grins again, two teeth missing. Never did his ugly face look so good as on this day in November 1918. Armistice embraces us like a quiet rapture. 

Not really a quiet rapture with smiling sergeants. Many troops on both sides continued killing to the bitter end, with a fury that had no mercy.

In one day, November 11, the last day of war, some 10,900 men were wounded or killed from both sides, a furious rage in the face of peace, years of slaughter; now moments of vengeance.

The Fall of Eagles

A big piece of the encrusted aristocratic world breaks off. The Romanovs, Czar and family, are all executed in 1918 in Revolutionary Russia. That same year, the House of Hohenzollern collapses as Kaiser Wilhelm II flees Germany. Also in 1918, the Ottoman empire is shattered.

And on Armistice Day, November 11th, 1918, at 11:00 a.m.—the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month—we mark the end of the war and with it the dissolution of the Habsburg dynasty.

Four indestructible monarchies: Russian, German, Turkish, and Austro-Hungarian, four great empires, each with millions of bayonets and cannon at the ready, now twisting in the dim shadows of history.

Will our children ever forgive us for our dismal confusion? Will they ever understand what we went through? Will we? By 1918, four aristocratic autocracies fade away, leaving so many victims mangled in their wake, and so many bereaved crying through the night.


Back in the trenches, the agitators among us prove right. The mutinous Reds standing before the firing squad last year were right. Their truths must not be buried with them. Why are impoverished workers and peasants killing other impoverished workers and peasants?

Now we know that our real foe is not in the weave of trenches; not at Ypres, nor at the Somme, or Verdun or Caporetto. Closer to home, closer to the deceptive peace that follows a deceptive war.

Now comes a different conflict. We have enemies at home: the schemers who trade our blood for sacks of gold, who make the world safe for hypocrisy, safe for themselves, readying themselves for the next “humanitarian war.”

See how sleek and self-satisfied they look, riding our backs, distracting our minds, filling us with fright about wicked foes. Important things keep happening, but not enough to finish them off. Not yet enough.

Michael Parenti was an internationally known, award-winning author and lecturer. He was one of the nation’s leading progressive political analysts. His highly informative and entertaining books and talks have reached a wide range of audiences in North America and abroad. His books include Profit Pathology and Other Indecencies; Inventing Reality, The Politics of News Media; Make-Believe Media: The Politics of Entertainment; Democracy for the Few; Land of Idols: Political Mythology in America; History as Mystery; The Assassination of Julius Caesar, A People’s History of Ancient Rome and the first part of his memoir, Waiting for Yesterday: Pages from a Street Kid’s Life.

January 29, 2026 Posted by | EUROPE, history, weapons and war | Leave a comment

The ‘Peace President’ Who Bombed 10 Countries and Wants $1.5 Trillion for War

SCHEERPOST,  Joshua Scheer,


Donald Trump keeps insisting he’s a “peace president.” The record shows something closer to a global arsonist with better PR. In just one year of his second term, he bombed seven countries—adding to a list that now reaches ten, more than any president in U.S. history—while demanding a $1.5 trillion Pentagon budget that would eclipse the military spending of nearly the entire planet combined.

This video dissects the chasm between Trump’s self‑mythology and the reality of an empire that has only expanded its reach, its violence, and its appetite for public money. It also exposes the bipartisan machinery behind it: Democrats and Republicans alike feeding the military‑industrial complex while slashing social programs at home and calling it “efficiency.”

As Ben Norton lays out, the U.S. isn’t just waging endless wars abroad—it’s waging a class war at home, shifting wealth upward while telling working people to tighten their belts. Trump’s rhetoric may promise peace, prosperity, and fiscal responsibility, but the policies tell a very different story: more bombs, more debt, more suffering, and more power for the same billionaire class that bankrolls Washington.

This is the reality behind the branding. And it’s why journalism that cuts through the mythology is more essential than ever.

Some facts to consider

Trump repeatedly brands himself a “peacemaker” and “peace president,” despite overseeing more bombings than any president in U.S. history.

In 2025 alone, he bombed seven countries; across both terms, the total reaches ten

The countries bombed so far include Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Iran, and Venezuela—on top of ongoing U.S. military actions and blockades throughout Latin America. And now Washington is posturing against Mexico as well.

In the last few days, a Cuban diplomat accused the United States of “international piracy” as Washington continues blocking Venezuelan oil shipments to the island in the aftermath of the U.S. attack on Venezuela and the abduction of President Nicolás Maduro. Carlos de Céspedes, Cuba’s ambassador to Colombia, told Al Jazeera that the U.S. is effectively imposing a “marine siege.”

Trump, meanwhile, is bragging that “Cuba is ready to fall.” On January 5 he declared, “Cuba now has no income. They got all of their income from Venezuela, from the Venezuelan oil. They’re not getting any of it. Cuba literally is ready to fall.”

All of this sits atop a much longer record: Brown University researchers estimate that U.S. wars since 2001 have caused at least 4.5 million deaths and displaced 38 million people worldwide.

This is certainly not a peace president or a peaceful country. And for anyone who still needs to understand how U.S. policy devastates other nations through coercive measures that overwhelmingly harm children, an October study published in The Lancet found that sanctions imposed by the United States and its Western allies from 1971 to 2021 caused more than 550,000 deaths every year—a toll comparable to the annual global deaths from war, both military and civilian, over the same period.

For more on his campaigns, remember that “Little Marco” and his own State Department were hailing Trump as the “Peacemaker‑in‑Chief” as recently as August—a whiplash‑inducing reversal given today’s situations globally.

For more stories about these issues:……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. https://scheerpost.com/2026/01/26/the-peace-president-who-bombed-10-countries-and-wants-1-5-trillion-for-war/

January 28, 2026 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

US military moves Navy, Air Force assets to the Middle East: What to know

Trump says US ‘armada’ is heading towards the Gulf, raising fears of a military escalation in the region.

Aljazeera, By Yashraj Sharma, 25 Jan 2026

A United States aircraft carrier strike group is heading towards the Gulf as tensions build with Iran.

The US military last staged a major build-up in the Middle East in June – days before striking three Iranian nuclear sites during Israel’s 12-day war with Tehran.

This month, US President Donald Trump backed antigovernment protesters in Iran. “Help is on its way,” he told them as the government cracked down. But last week, he dialled down the military rhetoric. The protests have since been quashed.

So what are the US military assets moving to the Gulf? And is the US preparing to strike Iran again?

Why is the US moving warships?

Trump said on Thursday that a US “armada” is heading towards the Gulf region with Iran being its focus.

US officials said an aircraft carrier strike group and other assets are to arrive in the Middle East in the coming days.

“We’re watching Iran. We have a big force going towards Iran,” Trump said.

“And maybe we won’t have to use it. … We have a lot of ships going that direction. Just in case, we have a big flotilla going in that direction, and we’ll see what happens,” he added.

The aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln changed its path from the South China Sea more than a week ago towards the Middle East. Its carrier strike group includes Arleigh Burke-class destroyers equipped with Tomahawk cruise missiles capable of striking targets deep inside Iran.

The US military vessels en route to the Middle East are also equipped with the Aegis combat system, which provides air and missile defence against ballistic and cruise missiles and other aerial threats.

When Washington hit Iran’s nuclear sites, US forces reportedly launched 30 Tomahawk missiles from submarines and carried out strikes with B-2 bombers.

When asked on Thursday if he wanted Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to step down, Trump replied: “I don’t want to get into that, but they know what we want. There is a lot of killing.”

He also reiterated claims that his threats to use force stopped authorities in Iran from executing more than 800 people who had taken part in the protests, a claim denied by Iranian officials.

An unnamed US official told the Reuters news agency that additional air defence systems were being considered for the Middle East, which could be critical to guard against an Iranian strike on US bases in the region.

Iranian state media said the protests killed 3,117 people, including 2,427 civilians and members of the security forces.

How widespread is the US military presence in the Middle East?

The US has operated military bases in the Middle East for decades and has 40,000 to 50,000 soldiers stationed there.

According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the US operates a broad network of military sites, both permanent and temporary, at at least 19 locations in the region.

Of these, eight are permanent bases, located in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The first US deployment of soldiers in the Middle East was in July 1958 when combat troops were sent to Beirut. At its height, almost 15,000 Marines and Army soldiers were in Lebanon.

The US naval movement towards Iran was ordered despite a new National Defense Strategy being released on Friday. The document is drawn up every four years by the Department of Defense, and the latest security blueprint outlines a pullback of US forces in other parts of the world to prioritise security in the Western Hemisphere.

How has Iran responded?

Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi, who heads coordination between Iran’s army and its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned on Thursday that any military strike on Iran would turn all US bases in the region into “legitimate targets”.

General Mohammad Pakpour, the commander of the Revolutionary Guard, said two days later that Iran is “more ready than ever, finger on the trigger”.

He warned Washington and Israel “to avoid any miscalculation”……………………………………………………………………………………………. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/25/us-military-moves-navy-air-force-assets-to-the-middle-east-what-to-know

January 28, 2026 Posted by | MIDDLE EAST, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Over 2 Million Ukrainians Are Dodging The Draft

Andrew Korybko, Jan 23, 2026

The 2.2 million men that are currently on the run amounts to 6.8% of the Ukrainian population and is slightly larger than the percentage of Asians in the US.

New Ukrainian Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov shockingly revealed that 200,000 men have already deserted thus far and ten times more (2 million) are actively dodging the draft, which are probably an underestimate but are in any case still very large numbers. To put that into context, Ukraine claimed in early 2025 to have had a population of 32 million, likely an overestimate, so the 2.2 million men who either deserted or dodged the draft amounts to at least 6.8% of the population currently on the run.

Rada Deputy Dmitry Razumkov claimed during a parliamentary session last month that his country had already lost half a million troops by then with an equal number wounded, possibly also an underestimate, while Ukraine is thought to currently field around 900,000 active troops. All of this data enables observers to better understand the significance of these “voluntary losses” since it should be clear by now that 2.2 million more troops would have certainly made a major difference for Ukraine.

That’s not to imply that it would have been able to reverse the military-strategic dynamics of the conflict that have trended in Russia’s favor since the epic failure of Ukraine’s NATO-backed counteroffensive in summer 2023, but perhaps it might have been able to decelerate the pace of its losses afterwards. Ukraine could have thus also been in a comparatively better diplomatic position too going into Trump 2.0 a year ago and that might have in turn predisposed him to a relatively harder line towards Russia as well.

For that reason, while the scale of its desertions and draft-dodging can’t credibly be described as a game-changer, it can still be considered a significant variable that adversely affected Ukraine’s fortunes. By contrast, this was never a relevant factor for Russia, which hasn’t conscripted anyone unlike Ukraine. On that topic, it’s worthwhile reminding readers about Ukraine’s forcible conscription policy that’s been made infamous by viral videos showing officials snatching young and old men alike off the streets.

This footage and stories that draft-eligible males (25-60 years of age) heard through the grapevine are partly why 2 million of them decided to go on the run and dodge the draft. They’ve also seen drone footage of the conflict zone and are therefore well aware of how likely it is that they’ll be killed shortly after being deployed to the front. These men might sincerely consider themselves to be Ukrainian patriots in their hearts, however they conceptualize it, but they’re not willing to die for nothing.

This segues into the plummeting popularity of the conflict among the populace and increasing support for a quick end thereto per recent Gallup polling. Trump just blamed Zelensky for stalling peace talks, which is in direct opposition to the will of the same people in whose name he still acts despite the expire of his term in May 2024. Other than his authoritarian tendencies, corruption is likely responsible for his obstinance since he’s thought to be profiting from the conflict and might thus fear charges once it ends.

Whenever he’s asked about the conflict, Trump usually says that he wants to end it as soon as possible in order to stop the killing, which it’s now known has spooked at least 2.2 million Ukrainian men into either deserting or dodging the draft. The 6.8% of the population that’s currently on the run is slightly larger than the Asian population in the US (6.7%) per the last census. The sooner that the conflict ends, the sooner that they can re-enter the economy and help rebuild their country, unless they flee abroad first.





January 28, 2026 Posted by | Ukraine, weapons and war | Leave a comment

War is Silicon Valley’s new business

Today in the US, Trumpism favours war.com, fuelling and justifying risky investments ==> investments take the State hostage ==> the State secures many contracts and in turn the contracts produce infrastructure ==> infrastructure such as megaservers, clouds, low-altitude satellites, cable networks, etc., become indispensable to the population and generate large profits ==> profits finance more risky investments…and so on, to the detriment of State Sovereignty and in favour of the Digital Oligarchy.

Ismaele, Jan 26, 2026

Today I am providing my English translation of an article by Glauco Benigni, originally in Italian and published first on ItaliaNelFuturo.com on Wednesday 3rd December 2025 and then on ComeDonChisciotte.org on Sunday 7th December 2025

Over the last 30 years, a fifth Caste has been added to the four dominant Castes that have been handed down through history, namely Brahmins, Merchants, Warriors and Scribes: the Caste of Digital Tycoons. Many of them are former executives involved in the various processes that took place at the end of the 1990s in the “forge” of PayPal. They are “affectionately” known as the PayPal Mafia. Now fifty-year-old billionaires, these former Silicon Valley youngsters grew up in the cyber world, combining the skills of the previous castes and conquering important parts of Nasdaq, every social network, artificial intelligence and e-commerce. What’s more, they have a monopoly in the West on the collection and processing of big data.

Today, each of them is a mix of Brahmin, Merchant and Scribe. For some time now, they have also been revealing themselves as Warriors, both because they build and manage the weapons of Cognitive Warfare and because they have put their knowledge and best practices at the service of the Armed Men (Pentagon, Intelligence, Private Security), in many cases eliminating the distance between the client (the Warrior State) and the contract manager and, as we shall see, officially taking on prestigious positions in the institutions to which they provided services and consultancy.

The leading representatives of this new Caste are: Peter Thiel and Alex Karp, founders in 2003 of Palantir (a technology company specialising in big data analysis and artificial intelligence). The two are known as “the architects” of the new system; Elon Musk, now known as “the voice of the techno-populist right”; Davide Sacchi, known as “the techno-currency czar”, and Marc Andreessen, the ideologue of acceleration. To these must be added J.D. Vance, US Vice-President (according to gossip columns: Peter Thiel’s boyfriend) and Donald Trump Jr., son of the current occupant of the White House. Of course, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are also closely linked to the Circus of Wonders we have described. This is undoubtedly a “fine little team”, whose financial strength (turnover and stock market capitalisation) amounts to several trillion US dollars. In other words, more than the 2024 national GDPs of countries such as the UK, Germany or France.

Trump has surrounded himself with them in the hope – not even a secret one – that they can anaesthetise many of the fractures and pains still caused by the Deep State. How? Mainly by exercising remote control over antagonists and cognitive warfare: sophisticated activities that you can engage in if you have computing power and networks, megaservers, microchip production and the cloud at your disposal. In essence, Trump’s choices are consolidating the new powers of the third millennium, namely the Webcracy that I describe at length in my book of the same name.

The new Caste has made its way into the White House, NASA, the Pentagon and the intelligence agencies, and is taking the helm of change in the US, first thanks to the cuts made by Elon Musk’s DOGE programme and now thanks to funding diverted to the digital bosses and taken away from the old Fordist world figures who have ended up in the shadows.

At the end of July 2025, in the labyrinthine corridors of the Pentagon, the US Army calmly signed away a piece of its sovereignty. A ten-billion-dollar contract with Palantir Technologies – one of the largest contracts in the history of the Department of Defence – was presented to the public and promoted in the business world as a step towards “efficiency”. The contract consolidated seventy-five previous procurement agreements into a single mutual commitment. This new relationship is considered a fundamental strategic step, thanks to which military functions are conferred on a private company. So far, there would be little to be surprised about if its founder, Peter Thiel, did not go on television to declare the Truth as seen from his privileged observatory: “freedom and democracy are no longer compatible”.

Translated: “You are all being monitored 24/7 without your knowledge, and we use your Big Data to guide your choices and make you like robots”. Honestly, Westerners living in NATO territories should not sleep peacefully after hearing these words: in addition to the spectre of war looming over us, we are now being told to forget the dream of freedom and to go along with the new aggressive and belligerent technological tyranny.

A nice little s****y programme, which goes hand in hand with the implied statement to the peoples already involved in the delirium of conflict: “Stop shooting each other or we won’t sell you any more weapons”.

We are therefore witnessing an increasingly authoritarian technology that tends towards dictatorship. In this scenario, US Vice President J.D. Vance, supported in his election campaign with $15 million from Peter Thiel, has become the face of techno-right governance. Behind him, his financier and boyfriend has firmly established himself in the techno-military heart of the state.

Waving the flag of “patriotic technology”, this new bloc is building the infrastructure of control: clouds, artificial intelligence, financial positioning, drones, satellites, an integrated system that Americans call the authoritarian Stack1. A faster, more ideological and almost completely privatised form of governance: a regime in which the boards of digital corporations, rather than public law, set the rules.

Some US media outlets describe Webcracy as a large lobby that operates with powers similar to those of the state: it writes or omits rules as its interests change, wins contracts and exports its model to Europe, where it poses a direct challenge to what remains of the Old Continent’s democratic governance. A governance so fragile and sick that it is unable to react. So let’s clarify one thing: Silicon Valley is no longer building search engines, social networks and apps, it is building a new empire. Or at least it is trying with all its might. Which is no small thing…………………………………………………………………………………

Guys… the die is cast! War tout court, war.com, has become the engine of development for NATO countries and is leading us towards privatised military sovereignty. Unlike the old authoritarianism built on fear and force, this new system governs through algorithms, the anarchic proliferation of financial capital and the ownership of networks that carry digital signals (web, telephones, TV, etc.).

Today in the US, Trumpism favours war.com, fuelling and justifying risky investments ==> investments take the State hostage ==> the State secures many contracts and in turn the contracts produce infrastructure ==> infrastructure such as megaservers, clouds, low-altitude satellites, cable networks, etc., become indispensable to the population and generate large profits ==> profits finance more risky investments…and so on, to the detriment of State Sovereignty and in favour of the Digital Oligarchy.

Let’s see which venture capital firms are currently active in the scenario described above:

Founders Fund, Thiel’s $17 billion flagship company, took Anduril from a valuation of $1 billion to $30.5 billion. It was the first institutional investor in Palantir and SpaceX, which are Thiel and Musk’s respective “crown jewels”. Palantir’s quarterly revenue now exceeds $1 billion, up 53% thanks to government contracts.

1789 Capital was founded by Thiel’s confidants and recently acquired by Donald Trump Jr. ……………………………………

The five domains of privatised sovereignty

Critical State infrastructure is being privatised in five sectors – data, defence, space, energy and money – the foundations of contemporary power. These domains constitute the architecture of privatised sovereignty: a technological regime in which power manifests itself through algorithms, laws, infrastructure, platforms and automated procedures…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Once Palantir becomes indispensable, once Anduril drones are standard NATO weapons, once nuclear plants power the AI that manages everything else… the transformation is irreversible. Europe faces an existential choice: build true technological sovereignty now, or accept governance exercised through platforms whose architects see democracy as a slow and obsolete operating system. https://geopolitiq.substack.com/p/war-is-silicon-valleys-new-business?publication_id=2232768&post_id=182686946&isFreemail=true&r=3alev&triedRedirect=true&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

January 27, 2026 Posted by | weapons and war | Leave a comment

They poisoned us’: grappling with deadly impact of nuclear testing

January 22, 2026 , https://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/they-poisoned-us-grappling-with-deadly-impact-of-nuclear-testing/news-story/47a9334cf6d82b20618d0b882b4c8408

Nuclear weapons testing has affected every single human on the planet, causing at least four million premature deaths from cancer and other diseases over time, according to a new report delving into the deadly legacy.

More than 2,400 nuclear devices were detonated in tests conducted worldwide between 1945 and 2017.

Of the nine countries known to possess nuclear weapons — Russia, the United States, China, France, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea — only Pyongyang has conducted nuclear tests since the 1990s.

But a new report from the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) humanitarian organisation, provided exclusively to AFP, details how the effects of past tests are still being felt worldwide.

“They poisoned us,” Hinamoeura Cross, a 37-year-old Tahitian parliamentarian who was aged seven when France detonated its last nuclear explosion near her home in French Polynesia in 1996.

Seventeen years later, she was diagnosed with leukaemia, in a family where her grandmother, mother and aunt already suffered from thyroid cancer.

The explosions are known to have caused enduring and widespread harm to human health, societies and ecosystems.

But the NPA report details over 304 pages how an ongoing culture of secrecy, along with lacking international engagement and a dearth of data, have left many affected communities scrambling for answers.

“Past nuclear testing continues to kill today,” said NPA chief Raymond Johansen, voicing hope the report would “strengthen the resolve to prevent nuclear weapons from ever being tested or used again”.

– ‘Very dangerous’ –

The issue has gained fresh relevance after US President Donald Trump’s suggestion last November that Washington could resume nuclear testing, accusing Russia and China of already doing so — charges they rejected.

“This is very, very, very dangerous,” warned Ivana Hughes, a Columbia University chemistry lecturer and head of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, who contributed to the NPA report.

“The nuclear testing period shows us that the consequences are extremely long-lasting and very serious,” she told AFP.

The heaviest burden of past tests has fallen on communities living near test sites, today located in 15 different countries, including many former colonies of nuclear-armed states.

Survivors there continue to face elevated rates of illness, congenital anomalies and trauma.

The impact is also felt globally.

“Every person alive today carries radioactive isotopes from atmospheric testing in their bones,” report co-author and University of South Carolina anthropology professor Magdalena Stawkowski told AFP.

– Millions of early deaths –

Hundreds of thousands of people around the globe are known to have already died from illnesses linked to past nuclear test detonations, the report highlighted.

It pointed to strong scientific evidence connecting radiation exposure to DNA damage, cancer, cardiovascular disease and genetic effects, even at low doses.

“The risks that radiation poses are really much greater than previously thought,” report co-author Tilman Ruff told AFP.

The atmospheric tests alone, which were conducted up to 1980, are expected over time to cause at least two million excess cancer deaths, he said.

And “the same number of additional early deaths (are expected) from heart attacks and strokes”, said Ruff, a Melbourne University public health fellow and co-founder of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.

Ionising radiation, or particles that can snap DNA bonds in cells and turn them cancerous, is “intensely biologically harmful”, he said.

“There is no level below which there are no effects”.

The risks are not uniform, with foetuses and young children most affected, and girls and women 52-percent more susceptible to the cancer-inducing effects of radiation than boys and men.

 Culture of secrecy –

The NPA report documented a persistent culture of secrecy among states that had tested nuclear weapons.

In Kiribati, for instance, studies by Britain and the United States on health and environmental impacts remain classified, preventing victims from learning what was done to them.

And in Algeria, the precise sites where France buried radioactive waste after its tests there remain undisclosed, the report said.

None of the nuclear-armed states has ever apologised for the tests, and even in cases where they eventually acknowledged damage, the report said compensation schemes have tended to “function more to limit liability than to help victims in good faith”. 

Local communities, meanwhile, frequently lack adequate healthcare and health screening, as well as basic risk education — leaving people unaware of the dangers or how to protect themselves.

“The harm is underestimated, it’s under-communicated, and it’s under-addressed,” Stawkowski said.

– ‘Guinea pigs’ –

When Cross was diagnosed with leukaemia aged 24, she did not immediately blame the nuclear explosions in French Polynesia decades earlier.

“France’s propaganda was very powerful,” she told AFP, adding that in school she had only learned about the tests’ positive economic impact for France’s South Pacific islands and atolls.

She was later “shocked” to discover that rather than a handful of harmless “tests”, France conducted 193 explosions in French Polynesia between 1966 and 1996.

The biggest was around 200 times more powerful than the bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

“These weren’t just tests. They were real bombs,” she said, charging that her people had been treated as “guinea pigs” for decades.

– ‘Trauma’ –

Other communities near test sites have also borne a heavy burden.

Hughes pointed to the impact of the United States’ 15-megaton Bravo test at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands on March 1, 1954 — “equivalent to 1,000 Hiroshima bombs — an absolute monstrosity”. 

It vaporised one island and exposed thousands nearby to radioactive fallout.

Rongelap, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) from Bikini, saw “vaporised coral atoll mixed in with radioactive isotopes falling onto the island from the sky, with the children thinking it was snow”, Hughes said.

The report criticised the “minimal” international response to the problem.

It especially highlighted the nuclear-armed states’ responsibility to scale up efforts to assess needs, assist victims and clean up contaminated environments.

“We want to understand what happened to us,” Cross said.

“We want to heal from this trauma.” 

January 26, 2026 Posted by | health, weapons and war | Leave a comment

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